Assessing CAP contribution to competitiveness
This Thematic Working Group aims to develop practical guidance to support Managing Authorities and evaluators in assessing the CAP contribution to competitiveness in the agri-food sector.
One of the core objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is to strengthen the competitiveness of European agriculture, as set out in Article 39(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This includes increasing productivity, ensuring a fair standard of living for farmers and aligning production with market demand.
This Thematic Working Group will provide methodological guidance for designing and conducting evaluations of how CAP Strategic Plans (CSPs) affect the competitiveness of the agri-food sector. It will clarify the concept of competitiveness, define its key dimensions, and propose indicators and tools to measure changes driven by CSP interventions across the agri-food value chain.
The guidelines will support Member States in assessing progress towards Specific Objective 2, in line with CAP Strategic Plans Regulation requirements, and show how to enrich the analysis by considering complementary aspects.
Objectives
The main objectives of this Thematic Working Group (TWG) are to:
- Operationalise the concept of competitiveness for the agri-food sector in all its economic, structural, technological, environmental, territorial and social dimensions
- Suggest a practical method to assess the extent to which the CSP promoted competitiveness, including agri-food trade aspects and sectoral, regional or farm-level competitiveness
- Develop methodological guidance and tools for assessing the coherence and relevance of the CSP in relation to improving competitiveness
- Illustrate with practical examples and clarify what data are needed for the application of the recommended approaches, while minimising the burden associated with data collection
Working process
This TWG will run from March to December 2026 and is structured as follows:
- Working Package 1: Launch of Thematic Working Group 12
- Working Package 2: Coordination and content development
- Working Package 3: Quality control, finalisation and dissemination of the guidance document
The outcome of the TWG will be a guidance document that includes clarification of key concepts, proposes an indicative evaluation framework, and is complemented by a set of analytical tools to support its practical application.
Organisation
Participation in this TWG is by invitation only, and members of the group include evaluation experts, European Commission staff and, potentially, representatives of Member States
As part of the TWG, a sounding board consultation will be organised to allow stakeholders to provide written feedback on the draft guidelines. Participants may include Member State representatives in charge of evaluating CAP Strategic Plans, Paying Agency representatives, evaluators and other relevant experts.
For any questions, please contact the European Evaluation Helpdesk for the CAP at evaluation@eucapnetwork.eu.